Genomic Analysis of Novel Sample Types Using Advanced Metagenomic and Microbiome Techniques

The ability to perform metagenomic techniques on samples collected from novel sample types demands high performance reagents and techniques not commonly used in most labs today. The Extreme Microbiome Project was established in 2015 to develop novel sampling and DNA sequencing protocols for both routine samples as well as the most difficult. Samples have been collected and sequenced from around the world including, soil, sea and fresh water, air, deep ocean, thermophilic, halophilic, acidic, and alkaline ecosystems from locations such as Greenland, Antarctica, the Red Sea, Romanian sulfur caves, and the International Space Station. Techniques including novel concentrating devices, high performance lysis enzymes, ultra-low biomass handling, biofilm disrupting, and working with high host background from eukaryotic organisms have all been applied. In all cases, DNA, RNA, and PCR amplicon sequencing are performed using a combination of short and long-read technologies including llumina, Singular G4, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies for characterizing functional and taxonomic features as well as MAG assembly of dark matter. About the Presenter Scott Tighe is currently technical director of the University of Vermont Genomics Facility and has expertise in all areas of genomics and microbiology including next generation sequencing (Illumina, Singular G4, and Oxford Nanopore MinION, GridION, and PromethION instrument), Sanger sequencing, PCR (PCR, RTqPCR, ddPCR), single cell analysis, flow cytometry, metagenomics, microbiome, biophotonics, and biomolecular detection of ultra low biomass nucleic acids in the environment. Scott first began working in microbiology in 1985 at Northern Arizona University and currently has over 200 manuscripts and presentations in molecular and environmental science both nationally and internationally. He is currently Chair of the ABRF Metagenomics Research Group and Extreme Microbiome Project (XMP), co-leader of the International Metagenomics and Microbiome Standards Alliance at NIST, Board member of the Genomics Standards Consortium, and developer the NASA uTitan payload deployed to the International Space Station to study DNA extractions in zero-gravity

Rural Medicine: What does it teach us about a doctor’s role in the community?

Rural medicine and the challenges faced gives a rare view of the community as a whole. It involves more complex chronic conditions as well as rare disorders many don’t see in urban communities. There is a lack of resources and subspecialty care that makes it more challenging but also very rewarding. About the Presenter Nergess Taheri, D.O., is the Assistant Program Director (APD) of the Family Medicine Residency Program at Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade, FL. She is board certified in Family Medicine. She is rural medicine faculty at NSUCOM. She received her Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science and Doctor of Osteopathic Degree from Nova Southeastern University. As the APD she teaches and trains family medicine residents at her program. In this role she has published chapters in the 5-minute Clinical Consult and the Primary Care Clinic in Office. She is a Florida native and an active member of both the American Academy of Family Physician and the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians

Who Am I? One Alumnus\u27 Multifaceted Approach to Life and Death

As a Hospice and Palliative Care Physician and a Biology major, I have witnessed life and death, both literally and metaphorically. My days are filled with helping patients with life limiting diseases navigate how to live a good life while simultaneously arranging for a peaceful death. While many may feel that life and death should be independent of the other, I would argue they are forever intertwined; you cannot have one without the other. All of you are studying life but how many of you are thinking about death? Most of us aren\u27t, but it is inevitable. As Benjamin Franklin said, only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. While I can\u27t offer you advice about taxes, I can provide some insight on death (and hopefully life as well). Join me as we turn back the clock and reflect on how this all started... About the Presenter Dr. Bromberg is an Assistant Member of the Supportive Care Medicine Program (Palliative Care). She has always had an interest in complex symptom management while also focusing on a patient’s quality of life and personal goals. During her undergraduate schooling at Nova Southeastern University, she enrolled in several Medical Humanities classes alongside her Biology based curriculum. She later completed several rotations in Hospice and Palliative Care both in Medical School as well as Residency. Dr. Bromberg served as Chief Resident in Family Medicine during her Residency at Jefferson Health Northeast where she created her own Hospice and Palliative Care curriculum to better educate physicians in training and current providers. She then completed a Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Care at the University of South Florida. In her current role, her academic appointments include serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences for the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine as well as a recent appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine. These roles have permitted her to educate future generations about the importance of providing quality medical care with an emphasis on helping patients achieve their goals. Additionally, she has published numerous case studies focusing on unique approaches to oncologic symptom management. She has received the honor of being named a Top Doc in Tampa Magazine three consecutive years and lives in Tampa with her husband and son

Optimizing Leadership to Promote Social/Cultural Responsibility through CIO Recruitment in an ABA Clinic

Optimizing Leadership to Promote Social/Cultural Responsibility through CIO Recruitment in an ABA Clinic. Tina Sears, 2024: Strategic Research Project, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: applied behavior analysis (ABA), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB), Chief Information Officer (CIO) digital tools, and stakeholders This Strategic Research Project (SRP) was designed to address service delivery gaps in an ABA clinic post the COVID-19 pandemic by hiring a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Clinics require increased security measures and expedited service delivery in response to external threats presented by the pandemic and customer demands. The ABA clinic referenced in the SRP was created in 2007 to provide ABA services that increase the quality of life for clients suffering from maladaptive behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder. The services are provided by the BACB approved providers who have a passion for assisting those with autism spectrum disorder. The internal and external factor evaluation in the SWOT analysis revealed that the clinic’s problem to be addressed was corporate social responsibility (CSR). To address this problem, hiring a CIO was the selected solution for increasing corporate social responsibility within the organization. The two strategies to implement the CIO initiative were: e-leadership and traditional CIO leadership. The strategies were analyzed by the QSPM tool that revealed the traditional CIO leadership strategy was the better strategy. The total attractiveness score of 6.29 for traditional CIO leadership was based on the utilization of the Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE) generated from the SWOT analysis which extended the broader discussion toward this strategy. This project includes an action plan to implement this strategy. The action plan steps are: (a) assessing the current performance of the organization during the first 90 days, (b) assessing current leadership interventions in improving healthcare outcomes during the first 90 days, (c) assessing guidelines adherence in the first 90 days, (d) establishing more digital services for evidence-based ABA services, (e) establishing more digital services for tracking outcomes and client access to records, and (f) establishing more digital services for training and credentialing of employees. The literary analysis revealed support for the three selected solutions that included: changing policies within the company, increasing direct acts of community service, and creating more webinars. However, not only had these solutions already been implemented effectively, the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges in upholding corporate social responsibility to the ASD community. The SWOT analysis and the QSPM model thus reflected stronger support for CIO leadership in the traditional sense. The traditional role of the CIO was the chosen strategy over e-leadership due to the demands of cybersecurity, awareness of clinical practices, and upholding regulatory board demands for reporting and initiating insurance claims. Ongoing studies of the effects of globalized management versus total quality management in tracking CIO leadership outcomes are encouraged in maintaining CSR initiatives in healthcare

On Restorative Validity: Reorienting Inquiry Toward Peace, Justice, and Healing

This work begins with a simple premise: (re)imagining a healing and restorative space for inquiry. Drawing on the work of John H. Stanfield II (2006), who first suggested the restorative functions of qualitative inquiry, this manuscript forms the basis for an axiologically-actuated conceptual model, restorative validity, which asks what it would take to (re)humanize researcher and researched alike. Beginning with the knowledge of co-researchers in our collective, the formulation of this framework was organized to understand the importance of orienting our research and ourselves toward relationships, justice, and liberation. After this review, I discuss a series of reflexive questions, rooted in the trans-disciplinarity of restorative justice, which researchers and practitioners can use to consider the potential and real harms in/from inquiry. By unsettling expertise and examining the implicit intersection of validity and ethics, I question: What would it take to be part of a research project that leaves those involved feeling greater than how we have all been defined? What happens when we do not question what our research does for/to us and our participants, especially when it spurs intellectual debate with little benefit in the way of peace, justice, or healing of past traumas and loss

Strategies for Educators to Teach Mixed Methods Research: A Discussion

Mixed methods research has become increasingly popular in multiple disciplines. Teaching mixed methods is critical to prepare students for using and evaluating the quality of published mixed methods research to inform practice. However, there is limited knowledge about instructional and pedagogical approaches to teaching mixed methods. The purpose of this paper is to outline strategies for educators on how to effectively teach mixed methods research. Teaching mixed methods requires educators to use multifaceted teaching and learning strategies targeting reflective, experiential, collaborative, and inquiry-based learning domains. Including case studies, games, and critical appraisal exercises can result in a more engaging and riveting learning experience for students. A combination of activities targeting varied teaching and learning domains, along with hands-on and student-centered teaching assignments, can be valuable to facilitate student learning of interrelated concepts of mixed methods research

The Scholarly Communications Landscape at Nova Southeastern University

The scholarly publishing landscape has always evolved and changed over time to adjust to changes in technology or policy. Today\u27s focus on accessibility, self­marketing of research, and the cost of publishing in an openly accessible format shapes and moves this landscape as new policies are enacted, budgets are reduced or flattened, and researchers are finding that there is more to do post-publication to disseminate their work. Join Keri Baker, NSU\u27s Scholarly Communications Librarian, as she introduces her new role on campus, discusses the different types of open access and what they mean, and how her department can help you with discoverability of your work, defining copyright and open access types as it pertains to the NSU research landscape, and discussing how to navigate the world of Article Processing Charges {APCs) to understand ways you can make affordable decisions on making your research open

Motivación de los Estudiantes en los Escenarios Virtuales de Aprendizaje en el Programa de Educación Especial en una Institución Educativa Pública en Puerto Rico

Este proyecto de investigación estratégica fue diseñado para analizar el plan, la problemática, las soluciones, las estrategias, centradas en la falta de motivación de los estudiantes de educación especial en los escenarios virtuales de aprendizaje en post pandemia. Para abordar el problema de la escuela superior pública en el programa de educación especial sobre la falta de motivación de los estudiantes en los escenarios virtuales de aprendizaje en post pandemia se describió el entorno de la institución. Se identificaron las Posibles Brechas de Crecimiento a través de los 40 factores entre Fortalezas, Debilidades, Oportunidades y Amenazas, mediante la evaluación de los Factores Internos en la Matriz EFI y la Evaluación de los Factores Externos en la Matriz EFE, la Síntesis de la Literatura Relacionada con el Problema que abordó cuatro posibles soluciones y se seleccionó la tercera solución encaminada a preparar y ejecutar un programa de capacitación en línea a los maestros sobre la enseñanza en escenarios virtuales de aprendizaje centrado en la educación especial. Para ejecutar esa solución se identificaron dos estrategias. Luego de un análisis mediante una matriz de valoración de los factores internos y externos se seleccionó la que obtuvo una mayor cantidad de puntuación total de atractivo. La estrategia que destacó fue el desarrollar e implementar un programa de capacitación en línea para los maestros sobre la enseñanza en escenarios virtuales de aprendizaje centrado en la educación especial. Para poder implementar esa estrategia se desarrolló un plan de acción. Con ese plan se creará un comité que tendrá a su cargo la presentación de la estrategia al consejo escolar, adiestrar a los maestros, desarrollar el contenido adaptado, monitorear la implementación y analizar los resultados. Este plan está diseñado para que el SRP sea implementado desde el mes de agosto de 2024 hasta mayo de 2025. El comité comenzará a adaptar el contenido a utilizarse en línea. Luego, comenzarán a adiestrar a los maestros sobre la tecnología básica y la educación en línea. Los maestros seleccionados estarán aplicando lo aprendido con sus estudiantes. Mientras el comité estará realizando evaluaciones para recolectar datos para mejorar o darle continuidad a lo establecido en el plan. Para la ejecución de este SRP se recomienda comenzar a adaptar los contenidos de la clase de español. Debido a que este es el lenguaje principal de la comunidad escolar identificada. En adición, que se seleccione un grado escolar del nivel superior para la implementación del SRP. De esta manera minimizar la complejidad del tema a investigar. Finalmente, que se aumente el tiempo de creación y adaptación del material educativo para la educación en línea. Esto permitirá un mejor proceso de diseño y selección del contenido a implementarse